Camper Trailer suspension

[zookwithdreams]

Hi,
I went too look at an older off road camper recently and the shackles were all the way back to the point where they were sitting up against the chassis, the current owner had said that the past owner had mentioned that the axle had moved slightly back along the leaf springs (wheels where a bit towards the back of the wheel arches)
However the shackles seem to me to suggest that the suspension isn't set up properly whether two long of a spring, spring fatigue or spring hangers are at an incorrect spacing and I am just wondering what peoples opinion are as to what the issue probably is .
Tim

[-Scott-]

Without seeing it, my best guess is the springs have sagged.

[Shadow]

If the axle has slid on the spring, it means the bolt through the centre of the springs is sheared off??

which means the leaf pack isnt work right at all. ie, the front will all be open up and the lower leafs wont be doing anything hence the whole pack will sag realy low.

[zookwithdreams]

Giving it a bit more thought it looked like the suspension had been changed at some stage (non galvanised welds on a hot dipped trailer) and my guess is that they got the set up wrong, the springs still had a pretty good arch on them and I think if the shackles were hanging down instead of back they would have been centre of the arches.

[zookwithdreams]

Has anyone made up their own independent suspension set up, looks like their not overly technical or hard but seems to cost a lot especially in comparison to a normal leaf spring set up.

Are they worth it, does it really make much difference. I imagine clearance would be a better but its not exactly as if you are riding in it to notice any ride quality improvement. Is it one of those things people get because they want the best just so they can say they have it, when in reality while being a bit better its not really worth it seen as though it costs almost 10 times as much to purchase.

[rockcrawler31]

Independant -

good centre clearance for getting over ruts (no big axle hanging and dragging on rut centres)
a bump on one wheel means only that side copes with the bump. The bump isn't transmitted to the whole suspension system so a bit better ride for stuff in the trailer.
easier to tune shocks and suspension for differing load circumstances
Easier to change ride height for same
(I was going to run airbags or different coils depending on what car was towing it or what was in the trailer.) For the cost of a cheap second set of coils and five minutes work it's not a bad advantage)

Leaf/solidaxle

Way easier to set up. Very simple
Robust
Cheaper
Easier to package. No links or arms to work out
Easier to fix remotely and in an emergency


If you get the camber/toe in wrong on an independant then you can have all sorts of weird handling and shit tyre life. A certain amount of adjustment ability has to be built into the mounting system.

[blackmav]

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/OFF-ROAD-CAM ... 2a18bd4788

[awill4x4]

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/OFF-ROAD-CAM ... 2a18bd4788

That Huntsmen independant suspension is cheap nasty shiat.
You would be better served by buying this SugarGlider suspension system.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/321028780304 ... 1423.l2649
I've just had one retrofitted to my caravan as shown below and although mine has twin shocks per wheel and is a heavier duty version of the one on Ebay the design is the same and it will be much stronger than the Huntsmen stuff.
Regards Andrew.

[Willy Hilux]

I read somewhere - you can uses some stuff from a Commadore to make up ya own custom suspension. Can't remember which commadore though.

edit...


Statesman/Commodore IRS Cradle

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/VT-VX-VY-VZ- ... 23239992c9" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and ya get disc brakes......

[MARKx4]

I read somewhere - you can uses some stuff from a Commadore to make up ya own custom suspension. Can't remember which commadore though.

edit...


Statesman/Commodore IRS Cradle

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/VT-VX-VY-VZ- ... 23239992c9" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and ya get disc brakes......

Great idea, loose the cross member and make your brackets to suit the arms and bob is your uncle, with the added bonus of all your adjustments...

Mark.

[rockcrawler31]

Now that is just genius. You get brakes, as well as handbrakes and a common stud pattern. Re-centre a set of 15" sunnies so you get the width tyre and all's good

I wonder what the load rating of the bearings would be good for???

You could easily make them a dual axle trailer and make each side load sharing by running airbags that are connected fore and aft. As one compresses it forces pressure into the one in front or behind to share the load. If you couldn't get the wheels close enough together with the crossmembers oriented the same way then you could flip the rear cross member to be a leading arm instead of a trailing arm

M

[Willy Hilux]

If ya think they are strong enough for a rear end of a commodore, it should be good for a good camper trailer. I don't think it would be that hard to machine up a new stub axle to fit in the bearing pocket to adapt to cruiser pattern.

Yeh, as for brakes it looks like it has cable hand brake and then you could run hydraulic over-riders for the disc.

I'm looking at this setup if I make my own camper trailer.

Anybody got any good plans of a good offroad box trailer??

[rockcrawler31]

The main reason i was asking about load rating was because i want to build a HD 9x5 single axle box trailer with a 2t rating that will get a removeable camper module for trips away. I regularly haul big loads and timber out of the scrub and i can definately get a single beam axle rated to 2t.

I have my doubts that commodore bearings would cope with 1t each side for too long which is why i punted the idea of a dual independant set up

I note you talk of replacing the stub axle. I wonder how hard it is to do that? Is anyone familiar enough with these rear ends to know if a landcruiser shaped stub could be fitted and then run cruiser bearings? (which would be perfectly strong enough to take 2t)

[Guy]

I read somewhere - you can uses some stuff from a Commadore to make up ya own custom suspension. Can't remember which commadore though.

edit...


Statesman/Commodore IRS Cradle

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/VT-VX-VY-VZ- ... 23239992c9" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and ya get disc brakes......

That is a great idea ...